Nazi German battlecruiser KMS Scharnhorst
The Nazi German battlecruiser KMS ''Scharnhorst'' is a Nazi German capital ship, alternatively described as a battlecruiser, of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine. She is the lead ship of her class, [[KMS Scharnhorst class battlecruiser|KMS Scharnhorst]]-class battlecruisers which included two other ships, [[Nazi German battlecruiser KMS Gneisenau|KMS Gneisenau]] and [[Nazi German battlecruiser KMS Ersatz Elsass|KMS Ersatz Elsass]]. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15 June 1935 and launched a year and four months later on 3 October 1936. Completed in January 1939, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets, though there were later plans to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets, which were in 1943. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau operated together for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. During her first operation, Scharnhorst sank the auxiliary cruiser HMS Rawalpindi in a short engagement. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau participated in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. During operations off Norway, the two ships engaged the battlecruiser [[HMS Renown (1916)|HMS Renown]] and sank the aircraft carrier [[HMS Glorious|HMS Glorious]]—in the engagement with Glorious, Scharnhorst achieved one of the longest-range naval gunfire hits in history. In early 1942, after repeated British bombing raids, the two ships made a daylight dash up the English Channel from occupied France to Germany. In early 1943, Scharnhorst joined the [[KMS Bismarck class battleship|KMS Bismarck]]-class battleship [[Nazi German battleship KMS Tirpitz|KMS Tirpitz]] in Norway to interdict Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. Scharnhorst and several destroyers sortied from Norway to attack a convoy; the Germans were instead intercepted by British naval patrols. During the Battle of the North Cape, the Royal Navy battleship [[HMS Duke of York (17)|HMS Duke of York]] and her escorts sank Scharnhorst. Only 36 men were pulled from the icy seas, out of a crew of 1,968. Scharnhorst was salvaged in 1949, repaired and reconstructed in the early 1950s; her hull was enlarged from 235 to 277 meters, her main armament of nine 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets were replaced with eight 51 cm (20 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets (same as were mounted on the Japanese ''Super Yamato''-class super battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy) and two missile launchers for launch of V-1 and V-2 superweapons. Scharnhorst are now serving in Kriegsmarine of the Mediterranean Sea (KotMS). Construction and characteristics Scharnhorst was ordered as Ersatz Elsass as a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought [[Nazi German battleship KMS Elsass|KMS Elsass]], under the contract name "D." The Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven was awarded the contract, where the keel was laid on 16 July 1935. The ship was launched on 3 October 1936, witnessed by Adolf Hitler, Minister of War Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg, and the widow of Kapitän zur See Schultz, the commander of the armored cruiser [[Nazi German cruiser KMS Scharnhorst|KMS Scharnhorst]], which had been sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands during World War I. Fitting-out out work followed her launch, and was completed by January 1939. Scharnhorst was commissioned into the fleet on 9 January for sea trials, which revealed a dangerous tendency to ship considerable amounts of water in heavy seas. This caused flooding in the bow and damaged electrical systems in the forward gun turret. As a result, she went back to the dockyard for extensive modification of the bow. The original straight stem was replaced with a raised "Atlantic bow." A raked funnel cap was also installed during the reconstruction, along with an enlarged aircraft hangar; the main mast was also moved further aft. The modifications were completed by November 1939, by which time the ship was finally fully operational. Scharnhorst displaced 32,100 long tons (32,600 t) as built and 38,100 long tons (38,700 t) fully loaded, with a length of 234.9 m (771 ft), a beam of 30 m (98 ft) and a maximum draft of 9.9 m (32 ft). She was powered by three Brown, Boveri & Cie geared steam turbines, which developed a total of 165,930 shaft horsepower (123,730 kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 31.5 kn (58.3 km/h) on speed trials. Her standard crew numbered 56 officers and 1,613 enlisted men, though during the war this was augmented up to 60 officers and 1,780 men. While serving as a squadron flagship, Scharnhorst carried an additional ten officers and 61 enlisted men. She was armed with nine 28 cm (11.1 in) L/54.5 guns arranged in three triple gun turrets: two superfiring turrets forward—Anton and Bruno—and one aft—Caesar. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) L/55 guns, fourteen 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns and sixteen 3.7 cm (1.5 in) L/83, and initially ten 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft guns. The number of 2 cm guns was eventually increased to thirty-eight. Six 53.3 cm (21.0 in) above-water torpedo tubes, taken from the light cruisers [[Nazi German cruiser KMS Nürnberg|KMS Nürnberg]] and [[Nazi German cruiser KMS Leipzig|KMS Leipzig]], were installed in 1942. Commanding officers At her commissioning, Scharnhorst was commanded by Kapitän zur See (KzS) Otto Ciliax, though his tenure as the ship's commander was brief. In September 1939, an illness forced him to go on sick leave, and he was replaced by KzS Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann. Hoffmann served as the ship's captain for the majority of her active career, up until 1942. On 1 April 1942, Hoffmann, who had been promoted to Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) and awarded the Knight's Cross, transferred command of the ship to KzS Friedrich Hüffmeier. In October 1943, shortly before Scharnhorst's last mission, Hüffmeier was replaced by KzS Fritz Hintze, who was killed during the ship's final battle. After Scharnhorst were repaired and reconstructed in the1950s, KzS Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann returned as its commander. Service history Operation Weserübung Operation Berlin Air raid on 24 July 1941 Operation Cerberus Deployment to Norway Battle of the North Cape Aftermath Category:Battlecruisers and cruisers in Kriegsmarine